Summary
After being bitten by a spider and gaining 50 pounds (it's a long story), California lawyer [James Judd] is sent to a glorified fat camp in Florida by his mother, where he is shocked to meet up with his four Mormon aunts -- "the Mo-Mo Sisterhood." Judd is not only not Mormon; he's an openly gay, childless-by-choice man living with his Puerto Rican partner (whom the aunts call his "Spanish friend"). It's only a matter of time before the culture clash comes to a head.
Those willing to brave the perils of a "feminist play" will find California's Suzanne Willett an able performer. She alternates among four characters, including the whip-wielding Feminazi. There's Sarah, the 43-year-old suburban mother who plays bad feminist folk songs at her coffeehouse open mic. And there's the Virgin Mary, portrayed as the classic Jewish mother, dusting photos of Jesus while she talks about the challenges of raising the son of God. "There are days when a blended family is such a challenge," she sighs.He's very quick at audience interaction, and for a first-time visitor to Canada, he has caught on quickly to the subtleties of the culture (Toronto vs. the rest of Canada, Alberta politics, [Stephen Harper]'s aforementioned hair). He radiates absolute confidence on the stage, and deservedly so. But he's also a comic who works best in symbiosis with his audience. Here's hoping the fringe crowd steps up to the challenge better than the opening night attendees did. HHHHSee the full content of this document
Extract
Western Fringe Reviews
TORNADO MAGNET: A Salute to Trailer Court Women
Guys in DisguisePTE Mainstage (Venue 16), to July 30 Edmonton playwright/actor Darrin Hagen has tilled this fertile white-trash turf before. Tornado Magnet was written in 1997 and has toured Canada, including the Winnipeg Fringe in 2001.And you can tell. On opening night, Hagen's rapidfire delivery of the familiar comic lines -- as Dotty Parsons, queen bee of the trailer park -- was almost too fast to connect with his audience. But this 75-minute anthropological tour of Hagen's mobile hometown is solid and clever, moving and funny. At the end, Parsons has us eating out of her Tupperware-sealin' hands. HHHHH-- Margo GoodhandDRUMHELLERThe Ice BoxPl...See the full content of this document
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